Jeddah's Education Department put an immediate halt to all school trips to amusement and leisure parks Sunday after an intermediate pupil was admitted to hospital in “serious condition” after nearly drowning in a swimming pool. 14-year-old Majed Basaeed was one of 41 pupils from Al-Falah School on a day trip to King Fahd Coastal City when he was allowed to enter the swimming pool unattended and, being a non-swimmer, sank to the bottom. Fellow pupils who rushed to his rescue said that a lifeguard at the site failed to hear their cries for help because he was “busy talking on the telephone”. Pupils also said that the First Aid room at the Coastal City refused to attend to Majed on the pretext that he required “urgent hospital attention” and the boy was taken by Red Crescent ambulance to the International Medical Center in Al-Ruwais. A hospital official said that Majed arrived in a coma and unable to breathe and was placed in intensive care where he was resuscitated after four minutes. He described Majed's condition as of Sunday evening as “serious, but stable”, and expressed fears of brain damage due to the lack of oxygen for a prolonged period. Majed's father, meanwhile, said he had signed no permission paper for his son to go on the trip and blamed the school and the Coastal City for the incident. “Majed was under water at the bottom of the pool for over 20 minutes before he was helped,” he said. Abdul Rahman Al-Salami, the school educational supervisor, rejected criticisms however. “The school took all the necessary measures prior to the trip, and three teachers were deputed with the pupils' care, but one of them had another appointment and was due to join up with the others shortly after,” he said. Al-Salami also said that Majed's father was aware of the trip. “He provided his son with a bathing costume and expenses,” he said. Civil Defense chief Abdullah Al-Jeddawi, meanwhile, said his officials made a series of observations at the site. “Initial investigations suggest that the lifeguard does not hold certificates in swimming or rescue,” Al-Jeddawi said, “and the person who assisted in the rescue has no license to conduct such activities and is registered on his identity card as an electrician.” Al-Jeddawi spoke of “considerable concerns” over school trips to such places, noting that the 41 pupils were being supervised by only two teachers. A statement from the Education Department said an immediate investigation into the incident had begun and that any failures observed would be “severely punished”. The incident follows the death on March 23 of a seven-year-old school pupil at a shopping mall amusements area while on a water train ride. Saudi Gazette reported at the time a Jeddah Education Department official as saying that said the department would issue a circular to all schools banning school trips to “dangerous places”, and that the ban would include amusement parks and swimming pools.
